You will also start to see iconic chalk grassland plants, providing the food to support the vast number of butterflies and other invertebrates. Chalk grassland has one of the most diverse plant communities found in the UK. The plants rely on grazing and are tough and hardy, surviving in ‘desert’-like conditions, From May to August, you will see many flowers growing, such as the devil’s-bit scabious or birds-foot trefoil.
Though not part of the wildlife, large numbers of cow are situated at the site between May and December. They play an important role in grazing the grassland, creating a whole range of microhabitats from the large grass tussocks to bare patches of chalk soil that a whole range of invertebrates rely on.
By Karen Weeks, Lydden Temple Ewell Reserve Warden
You can help transform Lydden Temple Ewell Reserve
This year we have the chance to purchase crucial new land that will transform Lydden Temple Ewell Reserve for the future. We urgently need your support to raise £78,000 to buy an eight-acre extension; an essential part of the Lydden Temple Ewell Jigsaw.
A donation of £100 would help the Trust to buy 41 square metres of invaluable land.